The popularity of a gaming devices depends in part upon the level of enjoyment and excitement that the game provides to its players. Gaming device manufacturers constantly strive to make gaming devices that provide as much enjoyment and excitement as possible. Providing a bonus round or bonus scheme in which a player has an opportunity to win larger awards or credits in conjunction with the base game operation of the gaming device is one way to enhance player enjoyment and excitement.
Known gaming devices having bonus schemes have employed a triggering event that occurs during the base game operation of the gaming device. The triggering event enables a player to play a bonus round or bonus game to its fruition and then return to the base game. One such game is the TOP DOLLAR™ game, which is manufactured and distributed by International Game Technology, the assignee of this application. In the TOP DOLLAR™ game, the player plays a primary game until reaching the bonus round, which occurs when a combination of the reels of the gaming device matches a combination programmed into the controller of the gaming device. Another example is disclosed in European Patent Application No. EP 0 945 837 A2 filed on Mar. 18, 1999 and assigned on its face to WMS Gaming, Inc. Here, the device operates in a basic mode until a “start bonus” event occurs, which causes the device to shift to a bonus mode. In both bonus schemes, the device randomly determines when the bonus round begins, and the player plays the bonus scheme until the bonus round ends.
The European Patent Application No. EP 0 945 837 also discloses a “bonus resource” that a player may obtain during the normal operation of the gaming device, which the player can thereafter apply during the bonus round. However, the level of interaction between the base game and the bonus scheme is limited to the function assigned to the bonus resource, such as overriding an event that would otherwise end the bonus round.
In an effort to provide a new and attractive way to satisfy the demands of players, one solution is to provide a gaming device having a bonus scheme in which the player may selectively enter the bonus round whenever the player is qualified to do so. Also, providing a bonus scheme that interacts with the base game operation of the gaming device would enhance player enjoyment and excitement.